The best fast food salads, according to nutritionists

When we think of eating a healthy, balanced diet, popular fast food chains like Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s aren’t exactly the first thing to come to mind. That’s for good reason ― fast food consumption has been linked to everything from the obesity epidemic to rising infertility rates among men.

But as people have become increasingly concerned about their health and worked to clean up their diets, fast food chains have caught on and added an out of character item to their menus: Salad.

For the most part, the rise of the fast food salad is a good thing — especially for people have a hard time affording healthy food. “Generally speaking, I think fast food salads can be a good option for people who have limited access to whole, fresh, healthy food and produce,” nutritionist Tamar Samuels told HuffPost.

The issue with these salads arises when we just assume they’re healthy without examining the ingredients. “Even though you may want to applaud the fast food industry for finally offering something on the somewhat ‘healthy’ side compared to their traditional fare, you still have to ask yourself, ‘are these salads as healthy as they claim?’” said Karina Heinrich, an international certified integrative nutritionist. “Unfortunately, most are not.”

Many of these salads are high in sodium and calories and low in nutrients, Samuels noted. “They’re loaded with preservatives and contain several unnecessary food additives that one would not expect from a simple salad supposedly made of whole ingredients,” she said.

So should you avoid fast food salads altogether? No, but it’s crucial to do your homework and be an ingredient detective.

Luckily, we did some of it for you. Here’s a ranking of the most popular fast food salads.

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